Klymit Insulated Hammock V: Review

Klymit Insulated Hammock V: Review

Posted On
February 22, 2017
at 3:19 pm
by masterrandy / Comments Off on Klymit Insulated Hammock V: Review

Cold Butt Syndrome (CBS) is the biggest challenge to sleeping in a hammock year around. What is it? Well, to stay warm you need to trap air. It doesn’t matter if it’s a sleeping bag or a jacket. Trapping air is what keeps you warm. The problem with a hammock, is that when you crawl into a sleeping bag you’re compressing the bottom of the sleeping bag. On the ground this isn’t a problem because the ground reflects your heat, but in a hammock your butt is just hanging there getting cold by the minute. With no way to trap air your backside will be cold all night, and you’ll be miserable.

Sleeping pads are one way that hammock campers have traditionally dealt with CBS. The problem is that sleeping pads are made for tents, not hammocks. A large rectangle doesn’t fair so well in a hammock. It’s a heck of a lot better than nothing, but it has it’s problems.

Probably the most comfortable I’ve ever been in a hammock.

The Klymit Insulated Hammock V is specifically designed for hammocks with Klymit’s signature body mapping technology. There are flaps for your arms and your legs to eliminate cold spots. The Klymalite insulation also separates the top and bottom half of the pad, so warm air is trapped next to your body. It has an R-Value of 4.4, which is pretty good, considering it’s size and portability. For comparison, the standard closed foam mats that you commonly see strapped to backpacks have an R-Value of between 2 and 3.

It only took about 30 breaths to blow it up.

The Klymit Insulated Hammock V only took about 30 breaths to inflate, so it was ready in short order. I have to say that it did indeed trap a lot of air, keeping my back side plenty warm. Depending on the size of your hammock it can be a little tricky to center at first, but once you do the non-slip zones keep it in place. I didn’t want to get out of it and immediately wished I was backcountry camping. If you’re looking for both warmth and a little extra padding in your hammock, the Klymit Insulated Hammock V is worth a try.